Newsletter

WGPlus provides a weekly roundup of news from the UK Government and Public Sector. To save your time, we research & validate the links to websites / documents and selectively add additional background links as appropriate.

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MoJ:  Locking them up may be justified ‘retribution’, but it is only a temporary measure which doesn’t address the long-term issues - A dedicated mentoring website linking offenders to high-quality support to get their lives back on track was launched last week.  The justmentoring website will, for the first-time, give prisoners or offenders in the community quick & easy access to a range of mentoring services, helping break the depressing cycle of crime many are trapped in.

They will be able to find help to address the root causes of their offending such as drug & alcohol addiction, homelessness, unemployment and mental health issues.  Former criminals who have turned their back on crime will also be able to link up with mentoring organisations, where they can volunteer their knowledge & experience to work with current offenders, supporting them to ‘go straight’ from the moment they set foot in the community.

Re-offending rates have barely changed in a decade despite £4bn a year being spent on prisons & probation.  More than 58% of prisoners serving less than 12 months go on to commit further crime within a year of release.  Justmentoring will be available on the ‘virtual campus’, a highly secure IT system for prisoners to access certain websites to help with issues such as job searches.

Press release & links ~ justmentoring website ~ Proven re-offending statistics ~ Transforming Rehabilitation:  A Strategy for Reform ~ Mentoring & Befriending Foundation website ~ Middlesbrough & Stockton Mind ~ MoJ: Mentoring Scheme reduces re-offending ~ BIS:  Recruiting ex-service personnel to teach in poorly performing schools may not be such a ‘wild’ idea after all ~ Cross-government reforms benefit charities and mutuals ~ Over £44m Lottery funding supports families most in need ~ Analysis of the impact of employment on re-offending following release from custody, using Propensity Score Matching ~ ScotGov: Funding to reduce re-offending ~ New Justice Data Lab to help cut re-offending ~ Greater focus on support and rehabilitation for female offenders ~ Greater focus on education in youth estate ~ Children and young people who sexually offend: Missed opportunities to prevent re-offending ~ WAG: Minister sees benefits of Invisible Walls

Monitor:  Monitor ‘doing what it says on the label’ - Peterborough & Stamford Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is financially unsustainable in its current form, according to an independent report presented to health sector regulator Monitor. The Contingency Planning Team (CPT) sent in by Monitor to protect the interest of local patients has found the Trust is clinically & operationally sustainable.  In the CPT’s opinion clinical quality of patient care is appropriate and, on the whole, within expected performance levels.

Press release & links ~ Monitor announces investigation into Poole Hospital NHS Foundation Trust ~ Monitor announces investigation into governance at University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust ~ Monitor announces investigation into governance at Aintree University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust ~ Monitor announces investigation into A&E target breaches at South Warwickshire NHS Foundation Trust ~ Monitor and NHS England seek views on first National Tariff for NHS services ~ Monitor to undertake first investigation under NHS purchasing rules ~ Monitor urges foundation trusts to invest wisely to improve services for patients ~ Monitor to investigate the closure of NHS walk-in centres ~ Care Bill contains new powers to help Monitor continue to promote & protect patients interests ~ Monitor and the Care Quality Commission sign Memorandum of Understanding ~ Draft guidance published for commissioners procuring patient services

Ofsted:  Do ‘clever’ children get ignored in class because they can cope, while those less able / more troublesome need / get most of the teacher’s attention? - The Ofsted’s new landmark survey,  The most able students: are they doing as well as they should in our non-selective secondary schools?, finds that 'too few maintained schools & academies set high enough expectations of what their brightest students can achieve'.

Ofsted reached its conclusions, having reviewed evidence from a variety of sources, including reports from over 2,000 lessons observed by Inspectors, and visits to 41 non-selective secondary schools across the country.  Many students became used to performing at a lower level than they were capable of.  Parents or carers and teachers accepted this too readily.

The visits undertaken by HM Inspectors did identify a number of key characteristics shared by those schools that were successfully supporting their most able students.  However, too few schools adopted these good practices.  

Press release ~ The most able students: are they doing as well as they should in our non-selective secondary schools? ~ Good practice resource - Engaging able mathematics students: King Edward VI Camp Hill School for Boys ~ Young people are not being sufficiently challenged in ICT lessons ~ Improving literacy – effective characteristics amongst secondary schools ~ Ofsted Chief Inspector announces measures to tackle local area under-performance ~ IoE Blog:  Ofsted, school accountability and the most able students ~ The importance of leadership - The Annual Report of HM’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children's Services & Skills 2011/12 27 Nov 2012

NICE:  Nursing care can often fall into the bad habit of ignoring the mobility problems faced by hospital patients - Healthcare professionals should consider patients aged 65 or older, and those aged over 50 with underlying conditions such as stroke, at high risk of falling while in hospital care, according to updated guidelines from NICE.  Healthcare professionals should also consider a multi-factorial assessment and multi-factorial intervention for patients at risk of falling in hospital.

These assessments should identify a patient's individual risk factors for falling in hospital that can be treated, improved or managed during their expected stay. Such risk factors may include cognitive impairment, continence problems, a history of falls, postural instability and visual impairment.

Falling is the leading cause of injury-related admissions to hospital in those over 65, and costs the NHS an estimated £2.3bn per year.  A number of falls occur in hospitals, with nearly 209,000 reported between 1 October and 30 September 2012. While many who fall only experience minor cuts or bruises, over the past year 90 people died and around 900 experienced hip fractures and head injuries as a result of falls.

Press release & links ~ NICE guidelines on falls ~ AUK:  What we need to see is a ‘Fall in Falls’ (2nd item)

PC&PE:  Equality for women is so much more than just achieving equal pay - Ending violence against women & girls is the litmus test for whether ‘development’ is working in poor countries such as Afghanistan, say MPs in report by the Commons International Development Committee published last week.

MPs endorse a policy framework put in place by UK government to make action to tackle the scourge of violence against women & girls a key priority for the UK government’s Department for International Development (DFID) in all areas of its work.

The Committee highlights how DFID recently launched a new £35m programmes to address female genital mutilation.  “140 million girls & women worldwide have suffered from this harrowing practice, which is usually performed on children by unskilled practitioners with unsterilized instruments and no anaesthetic,” says Sir Malcolm.

Press release & links ~ Action at home in the UK is key to ending the worldwide scourge of female genital mutilation ~ Aid commitments: Britain sets out pledges for UK aid ~ International Development Committee publishes report on Afghanistan ~ UK must press world governments to support UN Women, says VSO ~ HO:  Turning the ‘hunters’ into the ‘hunted’ (4th item)

DCMS:  If history is not to repeat itself, we must keep alive the memories of actions, sacrifices & mistakes we made decades ago - The government has launched a dedicated website & logo for the 4-year programme of remembrance marking the 100th anniversary of the First World War between 2014 & 2018.  Latest news about the government plans for commemoration, including information of national events & activities from the cultural programme will feature on the website.

Press release & links ~ Maria Miller sets out how government will mark First World War Centenary in 2014 ~ IOE and Education Travel Group win prestigious bid to run First World War Centenary Battlefield Tours ~ WWI commemorations in Scotland ~ Welsh Secretary marks launch of First World War Centenary Commemorations ~ Digitisation of First World War unit diaries now complete ~ Britain's biggest gun aims for Holland ~ £1m to preserve memory of Scotland's war dead ~ 100 objects to symbolise First World War in the air

UKOC:  And this year’s theme will be! - Last month, UK Online Centres asked for your in help in deciding on the theme for this year’s Get online week campaign.  They had lots of great suggestions and now they want your help again - to vote for the best! They have boiled your great ideas down to their 4 favourites, and you can find them - and vote for your favourite - in a very quick online survey.

Press release & links ~ Volunteers’ Week - a final thank you gift

MoJ:  Do you know anyone? - The legal sector and the wider public are invited to nominate people for appointment as Queen’s Counsel ‘honoris causa’ (honorary silk).  Nomination forms must be returned by 9 August 2013.

Press release & links

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